Tag Archives: Eminem

Michael McDonald, seen in 2005, had sued over underpayment of digital royalties. Click image for a photo gallery entitled 'Musicians in royalty battles.' (File/AP)

After suing Warner Music Group last May, singer-songwriter Michael McDonald, a member of the Doobie Brothers, has reached a settlement with the record label for underpaying him for online music sales.

McDonald’s win is the latest in a growing trend of settlements stemming from breach-of-contract suits brought by artists against the nation’s major record labels over payment practices for online music sales.

On the most momentous day of Nashville attorney Richard Busch’s professional career, his teenage son wondered if Dad had actually lost his mind.

Busch had glanced at his iPhone, then immediately jumped up and down before he bounded over to grab his son, Ryan, by the shoulders and shake the bewildered boy, yelling, “We won, we won, we won, we won, we won.”

The case Busch had just won wasn’t an ordinary victory for the 47-year-old music business attorney. After a years-long battle against Universal Music Group, an appeals court had just ruled in favor of his clients, F.B.T. Productions, the Detroit hip-hop producers behind rap artist Eminem’s musical success. The upshot was that Eminem (and F.B.T.) were entitled to an equal split of profits with their record company for downloads of Eminem’s music, instead of the fraction they’d been getting all along.

It wasn’t just that the victory would force the biggest of the world’s four major record companies to pay out potentially tens of millions of dollars in past and future royalties to F.B.T. and to Eminem. And it wasn’t just a personal vindication for Busch after a lengthy lawsuit against a company whose legal team had dwarfed his.

Rising rap sensation Yelawolf's musical journey -- which included some formative years in Antioch, Tenn. -- hits a new peak on September 27 with the release of his first proper major-label album, Radioactive, via Ghet-O-Vision/Shady/DGC/Interscope.

That's "Shady" as in "Slim Shady," a.k.a. Bonnaroo headliner Eminem, who's taken the Alabama rapper under his wing.

Last year, Interscope released Trunk Muzik 0-60, a revamped version of Yelawolf's independent mixtape Trunk Muzik. Yelawolf last performed in Nashville back in April, and will spend his summer on the Vans Warped Tour.

Click to see a gallery of Saturday performers at Bonnaroo 2011 (this image of Eminem: John Partipilo/The Tennessean).

As the gentle strains of Buffalo Springfield’s “For What it’s Worth” gave way to the devilish rhymes of “Kill You,” it’s safe to say the vibe at Bonnaroo on Saturday shifted as Eminem took the stage -- but not as drastically as you might think.

It was the post-Recovery Marshall Mathers who held court as Bonnaroo’s biggest star Saturday night. The guy who’s found sobriety and constructed a glorious second act for himself with life-affirming rap anthems -- crafted with massive crowds in mind.

Eminem emerged from the shadows at 11 p.m., announcing his presence with a long, boisterous “Bonnaroooooo!” as his sprawling band ripped into “Won’t Back Down.” He didn’t look too different from a lot of fans staked out in front, stalking the stage in a black hooded sweatshirt and camouflage shorts as the set zipped to “3 a.m.,” “Square Dance” and the not-so-life-affirming “Kill You.”

His experience with massive live audiences -- he and Jay-Z mounted a pair of co-headlining stadium shows last year -- was evident. At the time, it didn’t feel like wishful thinking to expect a surprise in the set, perhaps an unannounced appearance from one of his high-profile collaborators. When “No Love” bubbled up and Eminem started getting the crowd to chant Lil Wayne’s nickname (“Weezy”), I was all but convinced that Wayne (who performed at the festival Friday night) would appear. And I was wrong.Continue reading →

Click to see a gallery of Saturday performers at Bonnaroo 2011 (this image of Buffalo Springfield: John Partipilo/The Tennessean).

Between sets from current alt-rock faves the Black Keys and modern music superstar Eminem, a very different Bonnaroo act got reacquainted with the art of festival-rocking after some four decades out of the game. Buffalo Springfield -- the esteemed '60s rock group featuring Neil Young, Stephen Stills and Richie Furay -- comfortably set up shop on the Which Stage Saturday night, before a patient but visibly thrilled crowd.

Perhaps they eased into their set just a little too comfortably. Some technical snag, we gather, kept the group chatting and facing the drumkit in silence for several minutes after taking the stage. But soon they were peeling into “Kind Woman” and “Flying On the Ground (Is Wrong),” respectably led by Furay (who sported an official Bonnaroo T-shirt) and Young (dressed as his usual awesome slacker self.)

As rain briefly dropped, lightning crashed and fans rallied for the sound system to be “Louder! Louder!” BF turned miles more charismatic and adventurous, both during extensive jams and between-song banter.

Nearing the end of their 90-minute set, Young surprisingly led his fans in a rousing chant of “Bonnaroooo!” while waving his arms from side to side, adding “Help me out! Help me out!”

"You’ve been waiting all night,” he told his fans at set’s end. “We’re going to do our hit. We’ve got one!Continue reading →